Chapter 203: The Paradox of Late Foundation Building Stage
A good night’s rest indeed had its benefits.
Lu Yang reflected on the destruction of the Undying Sect, which felt as if it had just happened yesterday, still fresh in his memory.
He noticed that Everlasting Fairy was sound asleep in the mental space. When asleep, Everlasting Fairy was the epitome of serene elegance, her beauty unmatched, her body’s curves aligning perfectly with the common perception of a ‘fairy.’
Everlasting Fairy, when silent, could indeed deceive those who didn’t know her well.
Such rare tranquility.
“Do spiritual bodies also need sleep?”
Lu Yang remembered Everlasting Fairy’s use of the Dream Pillow and concluded that her reason for sleeping must be ‘hobby-based.’
Basking in the hazy morning sunlight, the spiritual energy inside him accelerated uncontrollably, as if a new power was surging within.“I’m nearing the late stage of Foundation Building.”
Lu Yang muttered to himself, sitting cross-legged right there, channeling the ‘Enlightenment of Heart and Nature technique.’
His spiritual energy followed the prescribed paths of the technique, increasing in speed, continually refining every part of Lu Yang’s body.
Lu Yang tried to use this opportunity to strengthen his hair but to no avail.
“I wonder how Meng Jingzhou trains his hair.”
He recalled how Meng Jingzhou fought against someone from the Five Elements Sect, using his hair to strike, with outstanding effectiveness.
Clearing his mind, he immersed himself, blending with nature, continually drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, exhaling it back into the environment.
During this process, his cultivation level kept increasing.
“What are you doing? Cultivating?” Everlasting Fairy woke up, rubbing her eyes groggily.
She sensed Lu Yang’s increasing cultivation but felt something was off.
“No, I’m advancing.” Lu Yang explained seriously.
“I’m now halfway to the late stage of Foundation Building.” “Oh, so you’re about to reach the late stage?” “Soon, but I’ve thought of a problem.” “What is it?”
“If I now take half a step of the half-step, wouldn’t I be even closer to the late stage?”
“Yes.”
“And if I take half a step of the half-step of that half-step, wouldn’t I be even closer than before?”
“Right.”
“If I keep taking half-steps based on the previous ones, wouldn’t I keep getting closer to the late stage of Foundation Building?”
Everlasting Fairy nodded vaguely.
“I keep breaking through, but I never seem to reach the late stage of Foundation Building. Does this mean that the late stage of Foundation Building is just an elusive state that actually no one has ever reached?”
Everlasting Fairy furrowed her brows, thought for a moment, and decided she was probably still not fully awake. She went back to sleep.
Everlasting Fairy’s head tilted to one side, and she went back to sleep.
After Everlasting Fairy had fallen asleep, Lu Yang continued to ponder this philosophical question.
What is the answer to this problem? Is my continual breakthrough meaningless? Does the late stage of Foundation Building not actually exist?
A hidden puppet could no longer bear to watch, sneaking up behind Lu Yang and giving him a kick.
Lu Yang, relaxed by the kick, successfully took another half-step. Late Foundation Building Stage!
“Who kicked me!”
Lu Yang whirled around, but the puppet had already fled.
Even though the puppet had run off, Lu Yang could guess it was the puppet’s doing.
Apart from Lu Yang, only the puppet could move at Heaven’s Gate Peak.
“Forget it, I won’t stoop to its level. Let’s go to the mission hall to exchange for rewards!” Lu Yang felt even if he found the puppet, he wouldn’t be able to beat it; there was no need to start his post-breakthrough experience with a beating.
Unlucky.
Lu Yang waited outside the mission hall for a while before Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone finally arrived.
The two were also very tired, having slept continuously from the previous night until just now.
Meng Jingzhou, as usual, went to the mission hall to buy high-quality fodder, mixed it in the right proportion, and went back to feed the old horse.
“Ice-making talismans are so cheap, give me twenty!”
Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou in surprise: “What do you need so many low-grade ice-making talismans for?”
These ice-making talismans were only effective against mid to late-stage Qi cultivation practitioners and were considered filler items on the list.
“Heh, you don’t understand, do you? It’s summer now, and do you know what’s most important in summer? Staying cool!”
Barbarian Bone was puzzled: “But isn’t there a heat-dissipating formation in the cave, isn’t that enough?”
Meng Jingzhou held up his index finger and wiggled it: “Come, let me show you.”
Meng Jingzhou pulled a wooden bucket from his identity jade token, filled it with cold water, and jumped in with a splash, leaving only his head visible.
He then activated an ice-making talisman, and the entire bucket of water instantly turned into a block of ice, with him frozen inside.
“Cool!” Meng Jingzhou shouted, frozen into an ice lump, only his head free from the ice. This kind of sensation was exhilarating.
This was something only cultivators could endure; ordinary people would have suffered from the cold long ago.
Lu Yang’s eyes lit up, and he pulled Meng Jingzhou, along with the ice block, out of the bucket, and rolled it around the mission hall.
This form of art was rarely seen even in the advanced Dao Seeking Sect, attracting the attention of many fellow Senior Sisters and Brothers.
“Lu Yang, you bastard!” Meng Jingzhou cursed as he felt disoriented, unable to tell up from down.
As Lu Yang rolled the ice block around, he explained: “You see, you don’t understand. The biggest problem for us during our fusion is getting too dizzy from spinning too much! We can use this method to train, getting used to spinning in advance.”
Barbarian Bone nodded in agreement, thinking how clever Lu Yang was; he didn’t think Lu Yang was just tormenting Meng.
Meng Jingzhou had a different opinion: “Talking theory is easy, Lu Yang, if you’re so capable, why don’t we switch places and I push you around!
“You were frozen first, you train first!” Lu Yang was not falling for that.
Childish provocation.
Eventually, it was the brother on duty at the mission hall, wearing a sour expression, who stopped Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.
Only then did the two behave and went back to exchange their rewards.
“I’ll take a Ten Bulls Strength Pill.” Lu Yang saw a Golden Core stage version of the Ten Bulls Strength Pill on the list for fifteen hundred contribution points and bought it without a second thought.
The price was definitely a bargain.
“Hmm? A Golden Core Realm Experience Voucher, what’s this?” Meng Jingzhou noticed something very odd; the description was also quite vague.
Meng Jingzhou pondered: “Could it be a way for Foundation Building cultivators to temporarily enter the Golden Core stage and experience what it’s like?”
He had heard that some powerful cultivators liked to let their disciples feel higher realms in advance, which is beneficial for their later cultivation.
“Buy one and try it, there’s no loss.” Lu Yang encouraged Meng Jingzhou to buy one.
Meng Jingzhou thought it made sense, it wasn’t expensive, so he bought one.
He ran to the front desk, found the brother on duty. “Brother, I would like to use this voucher.”
After confirming its authenticity, the brother nodded: “You can use it right now.”
Meng Jingzhou curiously asked: “Brother, what does this voucher do?”
As the brother contacted someone, he casually said:
“It lets you experience the combat power of a Golden Core stage cultivator.”
Meng Jingzhou felt uneasy, just as he was about to say something, someone patted his shoulder.
Meng Jingzhou turned around to see a bald brother at the Golden Core stage, kind-faced, who showed a row of neat teeth and smiled.
“Young brother, I hear you want to experience the power of a Golden Core stage cultivator? Come, let’s go to the outdoor arena and have a spar.”
Meng Jingzhou: “…”
Lu Yang, you tricked me!
(End of the chapter)